Beijing strengthened safety checks on hazardous chemicals stored in the city after warehouse blasts rocked neighboring Tianjin last week, local authorities said.[Special coverage: Explosion rocks Tianjin]
Qian Shan, vice head of the Beijing bureau of work safety, said the city has adopted stringent measures on hazardous chemicals.
"Companies that fail our inspections will be ordered to suspend operations, and their warehouses will be put under 24-hour surveillance," he said.
Two companies have already closed since inspectors found they could not meet management standards, according to the work safety watchdog.
Beijing has 2,536 businesses that handle harmful chemicals, including ammonia, methane and chlorine. They are mainly located in suburban districts, such as Fangshan, Daxing and Tongzhou. There are 49 enterprises responsible for producing toxic chemicals in all districts and counties except Mentougou, Pinggu and Huairou.
A total of 2,487 companies buy and sell chemicals, including 33 oil warehouses, 1,030 gas stations, and 64 companies that deal with highly toxic chemicals. Ten companies produce fireworks. Following an inspection across 124 sites, hazards were discovered at 85 companies that stored dangerous chemicals.
On Thursday afternoon, a gasoline warehouse, a gas station, and the auto part area of an industrial park were visited by the safety watchdog and were all found to have safety issues.
Seven of the 18 firefighters working for the auto part firms were found not to hold licenses, and some personnel were not wearing protective clothing.
At Sinopec's Beijing branch, the inspectors found its contingency plans defective. Security personnel were unfamiliar with what to do when asked how to handle an oil tank fire and its own firefighters were slow to respond.
Similar scenario was shown at the gas station. In addition, its employees were found smoking in the dorm nearby the facility.
The capital has decided to halt operations of companies that manufacturer or deal with highly toxic chemicals and explosives from Aug. 17 to Sept. 6, in preparation for a military parade on Sept. 3 and the IAAF World Championships from Aug. 22 to 30.
It ordered all toxic chemicals at the companies sealed, stored and guarded by designated personnel.
Last Wednesday night, two explosions at a warehouse in Tianjin Municipality where hundreds of tonnes of toxic chemicals were stored, including roughly 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide, killed 114 people. And 648 are still in hospital and 69 are still missing.
Beijing is only one of the regions checking on dangerous chemicals and explosives following the Tianjin blasts. The State Council issued an emergency notice last Friday asking governments at all levels to reinforce safety management for such goods, control access to the materials, and implement special regulatory measures for highly toxic chemicals.
Marine authorities in Shanghai have launched a review on ships that transport dangerous goods, intensifying supervision on declarations and examinations, as well as enhancing monitoring of loading and unloading.
Gansu, with chemicals as a pillar industry, has ordered chemical companies with fire or explosion risks or toxic fumes in high risk places to suspend operations. They were asked to be relocate or shut down.
More than 300 inspection teams across Sichuan Province have overseen1,258 chemical companies and those dealing with dangerous chemicals. They have garnered about 1,500 pieces of information on safety hazards and ordered one to stop production.
Anhui Province required work safety watchdogs at the county level to check on all companies handling dangerous chemicals, and warned that municipal authorities would carry out random inspections on a third of the companies.
